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Experts and interested stakeholders are invited to contribute to the development of new non-binding guidelines on good practice for the safe management of asbestos in the workplace. To this end, the European Commission’s DG Employment is organising a series of online workshops.
Asbestos is an extremely dangerous and carcinogenic substance: 78% of recognised occupational cancers in the EU and 88% of occupational lung cancers are linked to asbestos. The legal protection of workers against the specific risks of exposure to asbestos in the EU dates back to 1983. The most recent legislation is Directive 2009/148/EC on asbestos at work, which will be revised in 2023, in particular by lowering the binding occupational exposure limit for asbestos.
The Commission’s aim is to “provide practical advice to employers, workers, occupational health and safety services and experts, and all other interested parties, on how to prevent and reduce occupational exposure to asbestos”. It is organising 10 online workshops in October and November 2024 on asbestos identification and detection, ore disposal, passive and secondary exposure, waste transport, road construction, etc.
